Pre-Trial Release Program Saving Tax Payers Over a Million

Lowndes County, GA - Tax payers in Lowndes County are saving big bucks thanks to a program that monitors felony offenders with ankle bracelets.

$1.4M, that's the amount of cash taxpayers in Lowndes have saved since the program began.

The program allows felony offenders waiting to move through the court system to be released from jail.

The offenders get a GPS tracking anklet and are monitored twenty four hours a day, which is a lot cheaper then keeping them behind bars.

It began almost a year ago, and county officials tell say that it has now been renewed for another year.

The program doesn't just give tracking anklets to inmates, as Paige Dukes, Lowndes County Clerk, stated, "They also allow a facility where these inmates can come in during the day and report. They can receive substance abuse counseling, job training skills, just general support to ensure their integration back into the community."

The program costs taxpayers about seven bucks a day. That's about six times less than it costs to keep offenders in the Lowndes County Jail.

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